How to Make Fabric Wall Clings
Add personality to the walls of your home with custom-made fabric decals that you can arrange, reposition and remove without damaging the paint color or finish. Create motifs for your child's room, bathroom or kitchen with a simple trace-and-cut technique that allows you to design embellishments that coordinate with your room colors, personal style or current home decorating trends. The simple, decorative wall clings are so easy to make, you'll be able to change the designs for each holiday, party or special occasion.
Things You'll Need
- Scissors
- Low-tack, self-adhesive vinyl contact paper
- Heavy book
- Shape stencils
- Tailor's chalk or pencil
- Fabric
- Anti-fray spray
- Scrap paper or plastic sheet
- Spray adhesive
- Cardboard or credit card
Instructions
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1
Use scissors to cut 6-inch-long strips from a roll of self-adhesive vinyl contact paper. Ensure you've purchased a low-tack variety so it won't leave residue on the walls. Press the pieces under a heavy book for at least 24 hours to keep them from curling when you adhere the fabric.
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2
Cover your work surface with scrap paper or a plastic sheet to protect it from adhesive residue.
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3
Create the desired shape for your wall cling by tracing a shape stencil onto the back of a piece of fabric with tailor's chalk or a pencil. Cut the shape out with sharp scissors and spray the edges with an aerosol anti-fray product to keep the edges of the fabric from fraying.
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4
Place the fabric shape face down on the table and coat the back with a layer of spray adhesive. Only add a light coat to prevent the adhesive from seeping through the fabric.
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5
Press the fabric shape onto a piece of contact paper, smoothing it with your palm to remove any bubbles. Cut along the shape's edges with scissors so the contact paper doesn't show. Let the adhesive dry.
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6
Peel the backing from the contact paper and press the fabric wall cling onto the desired spot on the wall. Use a piece of cardboard or a credit card to smooth out any bubbles.
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Tips & Warnings
Ensure the contact paper you've chosen won't leave sticky residue on the walls by cutting a small strip and affixing it to an inconspicuous spot on the wall. Remove the piece 24 hours later to test the results.
If you don't want to use an aerosol anti-fray product on your fabric wall cling shapes, cut the fabric shapes out with pinking shears. The scissors with the zig-zag edge will prevent fraying.
Because you'll be covering the contact paper with fabric, you can use remnants from kitchen projects rather than buying new rolls. Just ensure that the contact paper's design isn't darker or bolder than the fabric's pattern or it may show through.
Save money by using the fabric remnants from a do-it-yourself reupholstering or curtain-making project to create fabric wall embellishments that coordinate with your home decor projects. If you're creating handmade wall shapes for a nursery, for example, use a letter stencil to make appliques from extra fabric from the curtain valance or crib bedding to spell the baby's name.
